Imbibe 75 Place to Watch: Beerburg Brewing - Imbibe Magazine Subscribe + Save

Shop the merchandise at Beerburg Brewing in Austin and you’ll find the expected T-shirts and the unexpected: an apothecary selling ash juniper smudge sticks, candles infused with mugwort oil, and custom tea blends. They feature Texas ingredients foraged by Trevor Nearburg, the brewery’s founder and herbalist. He previously worked at the Texas breweries Real Ale and Uncle Billy’s, where he met fellow brewer Gino Guerrero. They launched Beerburg in early 2020, but the pandemic curtailed big ambitions.

Now that restrictions are easing, he’s focusing on his environmental efforts and complementing the brewery’s pilsners and pale ales with Wildcraft beers. They feature the property’s well water, Texas malt, native yeast, and herbs including tarragon-like flowering yarrow, licorice-like horehound, and floral mugwort. “We’re trying to make these beers very approachable and palatable using native and local ingredients,” he says. “Hops don’t grow naturally in Texas.”

Head brewer Guerrero took permaculture classes, and he’s working to rejuvenate the 15-acre property by planting Mexican plum trees and herb berms that can supply the apothecary and brewery. Nearburg also leads monthly walks on the brewery grounds to educate guests about plants. No, that’s not a weed—it’s the next great Wildcraft ingredient. “I’ve got brewing herbs hanging from the ceiling over my office,” Nearburg says.

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